Searching for inspiration
One would think by looking around at the place I live there
is no lack of inspiration for writing. There is probably a lot of truth to
that, but yet I have not written a proper blog for almost 2 months (if not
more). Just about any of the other missionaries would say that is nothing to
scoff at, but I am determined not to let this blog fall by the wayside. I have
definitely let my journaling fall by the wayside, but am on a roll again having
now written everyday for the past week. I guess it is one sign that I have
maybe fallen into the “routine” of life here if there is such a thing.
This entry will likely just be a stream of thoughts and
happenings here at the Farm. I guess I can start with some of the
projects/programs/events that are being worked on here. As the leader of events
and activities I am basically in charge of keeping the kids busy with fun
things to keep them out of trouble.
One of those activities is the Farm
Olympics. Once a month I come up with (seemingly out of thin air) at least two
different competitions. The kids are on teams composed of those who live in
their house. As I’ve mentioned before the houses are by gender and age. Now
each house even has its own identifying color t-shirt along with the special
friend (a missionary) of the house.
Last months Olympics were definitely one of my
favorite so far. We had a treasure hunt of sorts that included math, research,
arts and athletics. For some their first clue was four math problems (varying
in difficulty by age/grade) and the answers all equaled 1,9,6,0. The kids then
had to find that number (1960 – the year our founder was born) somewhere in the
Finca. The number is on Vincent’s tomb in the church. Their 2nd clue
was sitting on the tomb in an envelope. Some were led to different classrooms,
the library or the school office where they each had to find an answer to
various questions such as, “How fast does a Hurricane move?”, “After how many
weeks is a kitten ready to leave it’s mother?”, “What is the primary use of
morphine?”… all were science related in someway.
To throw some of them off some groups were
given the math portion first and others were given the research portion first.
Their final clues all led them to “the place named after our foundress” (the playground).
There they had to find the tennis ball marked for their house and throw it into
the tire swing which proved quite difficult. This was one of the first times
our oldest boys did not win or even come close.
After the scavenger hunt we headed
for the beach for a sand building competition. Everyone had 15 minutes and was
judged on the construction, size and creativity. It was really a blast to see
how well everyone worked together. Just take a look at some of their creations (below).
Another program I am looking to get
up and running is a radio program with the kids and the Catholic radio station
in town. I had heard about the program from Andrea while I was interviewing.
I’m told some of the kids (years ago) had a weekly on air program that one of
the Franciscan sisters (who was not directly involved at the Farm) helped
organize. I thought it was a great idea to practice public speaking and a bit
of the technical end of radio. Then I found out one of newly hired teachers
works there which is super helpful for organizing. The plan right now is for
those kids that are on “green” (a.k.a. behaving well) to be involved weekly.
One week will be houses 5 & 6 (the oldest kids) and the following week
houses 4 & 5 (the middle aged kids). At first we are just planning on a
half hour program, but want to work up to an hour. The toughest part I think
will be dedicating the time to writing up a “show” every week, but also getting
the kids really excited about it. I’m a bit terrified of allowing a bunch of
pre-teen/teens on the open airwaves, but I am just praying that God will really
lead this. I’m sure they will all be very “penosa” or shy/embarrassed, but I am
really hoping that the guy at the radio station plus the new teacher will be
very helpful. I want to work closely with Sor (sister) Innocencia since she is
the head of our spiritual life activities. With my limited knowledge of
Honduran life and my poor Spanish this will have to be a very communal effort.
